I leaned against the window of the flying ship, staring out at the floating island of Arcadia. From here I could see everything—the sprawling city, the smaller isles orbiting like satellites, and at the very center, the crown jewel: Arcadia Academy.
Luxurious. Untouchable. Intimidating.
But instead of being in awe, I grimaced. School. Again. Sure, I was in the body of a young man now, but the thought of going through classes all over again—even in a fantasy world—felt ridiculous.
No, that wasn't the real problem. What really gnawed at me was Arcadia itself. Could I survive the Academy? No—could I even survive this world?
I'd scraped through the tutorial, but only because of sheer luck. And luck wasn't exactly a sustainable strategy.
That's when it hit me. I hadn't checked the reward I earned from the prologue episode.
"System. Rewards."
The familiar window popped open:
[1. A low-grade item of your choosing].
[2. A low-level skill of your choosing].
[3. EXP]
I frowned. A low-grade item could be useful. A low-level skill, even more so. And EXP wasn't a bad fallback—I could funnel it into [Evade] or boost my stats. But none of it sounded game-breaking.
I wondered if I could request a particular item. The moment the thought crossed my mind, the system responded in my head:
[Search acknowledged. Item exists but is unavailable due to high-grade restriction.]
I froze. "…Wait. Can you hear my thoughts?"
[Affirmative.]
I blinked. Twice. Then asked the obvious question: "Can you send me back to my world?"
Silence.
Yeah, I figured.
I sighed, then asked for a different item. "What about the book called Archiver?"
The system paused.
[Archiver located. Classification: Low-Grade. Confirm purchase?]
"…Confirm."
Light shimmered before me, and a worn book materialized in midair. I reached out, feeling its weight settle in my hand. The cover glowed faintly. When I opened it, text filled the pages in neat rows.
A smile tugged at my lips. "Yeah… I made the right call."
Most players overlooked Archiver for shinier rewards. But veterans knew better. The book automatically recorded everything you discovered—ingredients, crafting recipes, monster weaknesses, dungeon layouts, even your own notes. A personal database.
It was created by players for players, to save the hassle of alt-tabbing to a wiki. Simple. Practical. A lifesaver.
And it was classified as low-grade.
That made me wonder. If this counted as low-grade… just what kind of broken monsters counted as high-grade items?
I brushed the thought aside. Instead, I whispered, "Open to page 105."
The book flipped furiously on its own until it stopped at the page I wanted. My grin widened as I read the entry.
Knowledge really was power.
—-
The ship docked at one of Arcadia's floating ports. Nobles around me gathered their things, eager to disembark. I stayed in the far corner, waiting them out—better to avoid any ambush or petty harassment.
That's when I caught the whispers.
"Hey, look. It's Kamel."
"Where? Oh—her? The duchy's disgrace?"
"Keep it down! She'll hear you!"
I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but they weren't exactly subtle. The name alone was enough to grab my attention.
I followed their gazes.
There she was.
A tall girl stood apart from the others, her burgundy hair fading to black at the tips, her garnet eyes sharp despite the shadows under them. She wore ragged mage's robes—robes I recognized. The same kind I'd seen when traveling to the southern gate.
And her name sealed it.
Kamel Ar Veilworth.
One of the game's tragic main characters.
I summoned the Archiver and whispered her name. The pages flipped until stopping at 35. Her profile appeared in crisp detail:
[Kamel Ar Veilworth; Eldest daughter of the Veilworth Duchy. A Fire-Earth mage. Known as the "Fake Villainess." Loves junk food. Family ruined by her father's alcoholism. Dies during a key event.]
I exhaled slowly. The entry didn't lie—her fate was sealed. But the part that made me pause was her title: Fake Villainess.
Why "fake"?
I skimmed the additional notes and pieced it together.
The game Nexus Of The Future Heir wasn't wholly original. It was based on a discontinued webnovel called Destiny Of Hearts. In that story, Rumia wasn't the villainess. Kamel was.
But in the novel, Kamel eventually redeemed herself—uncovering her father's corruption, defying her peers, and growing closer to the male protagonist. She transformed from a bitter, misled noble girl into a beloved ally.
Readers of the original novel had adored that arc.
The ending, though… not so much. Characters started dropping like flies, backlash hit hard, and the author abandoned the series.
When the devs adapted the novel into NOTFH, they made changes. Big ones. Rumia replaced Kamel as the villainess. The male protagonist was gone. And in his place? Yang, a female protagonist—ironically, she was a reincarnated soul from modern Earth.
That meant Kamel's growth, her redemption, her entire character arc… was erased.
In the game, she never survived. No matter what choices players made.
I closed the Archiver and let it dissolve into glowing polygons. My eyes followed Kamel as she walked off the ship, head held high despite the sneers and mocking grins from her peers.
The novel gave her a chance to change. The game didn't.
And this world…?
I shook the thought away as the guide barked at me to hurry. Apparently, I was the last one left onboard.
I moved toward the exit, muttering under my breath, "Not my problem. I've got enough on my plate already."